Working Title: Rewrite
by starspangledpumpkin
Summary: A rewrite of Working Title because I don't like the direction it's taking. This one is a bit friendlier. I want the Avengers to be friends and sometimes that takes an outsider to bring them together.
1. Chapter 1

**Word Count: 2948**

**Space Address: 3A - Sunshine**

**Warnings: **Government stalking; hospital room

_May 2011_

Theodora "Teddy" Williams yawned broadly and rubbed her face despite the glare of the morning sun. It was a crazy shift that night at the hospital and she had been pulled in every direction. It was times like these where she wished she could clone herself.

Or turn invisible…

Whoever was following her must've been new at their job– or just bad at it. She didn't like being followed, so she pulled out her phone and texted her best friend Ida.

**Hey, boo, can I call you?**

Seconds later, her phone rang. Teddy answered.

"_What's up, Sunshine?"_ Ida asked.

"I'm being followed," said Teddy. "Not sure by who, but they're suits."

"_Well, I'm still at work, maybe you could come to me and stay at my place until they lose interest."_

"Miss Williams!"

"Shit." Teddy dug her wasp spray out of her bag and whirled around to face the suits.

"I know my rights!" she shouted. "I have not done anything to warrant an arrest and under the Mutant Protection Act of 1995, I do not have to go anywhere I don't want to unless I use my powers offensively—"

"We're not here to arrest you, Miss Williams."

"_That sounds suspicious,"_ said Ida.

"What are you here for?" Teddy asked.

The suit smiled. "My name is Agent Phil Coulson, I'm with SHIELD."

"Agent Phil Coulson," Teddy repeated to Ida.

"_Oh, I know Phil! Yeah, he's one of the good ones. I'd trust him."_

Teddy relaxed slightly at this. Slightly.

"Okay, Phil," she said. "What do you want?"

"We need your help with a special assignment," said Phil.

"You do realize I'm a nurse, right?" she said.

"A nurse with Mutant powers, who is also working on her thesis about the Mutant Gene and modern superhumans," said Phil. "You also won an award for your essay on Captain America when you were in high school."

"Ida, I'm gonna call you back," said Teddy.

"_Okay, stay safe. Love you."_

"Love you, too." Teddy pocketed her phone and crossed her arms. "Okay, what is this about?"

"Top secret, but if you'll come with me, I'll explain more."

"That doesn't sound promising," she said.

"If it will make you feel better, it can just be you and me in the car."

That did make her feel a bit better, and if she needed to, she could just kick the front windshield out and escape. Not to mention she was four inches taller than this agent. So, against all training, she followed Phil to his car.

"Listen," she said. "Can we make a food stop? I just got off a fifteen-hour shift and I'm starving."

"Sure," said Phil. "I'm actually peckish myself."

When they got their McDonald's, Teddy asked once more what this whole thing was about.

"You know Captain America?"

"I know of him," she said.

Phil beamed like a small child on a gift-giving holiday. "We found him."

Teddy sat up. "What?!"

"We found him," Phil repeated. "He's been frozen for sixty-six years."

"So, what do you need me for?" Teddy asked.

"Well, we need qualified personnel to thaw him properly," said Phil. "You have experience with healing superhumans, and we want to make sure we do this right."

"Plus, if he wakes up, you need someone who can restrain him," Teddy concluded.

"Exactly," said Phil. "Are you in?"

"How much you paying?"

"Fifty dollars an hour," said Phil. "Plus a bonus if he survives."

Teddy choked on her soda.

"Is that okay?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah!"

"Great," said Phil as he pulled into the parking garage. "Here's your badge, you're in the system, and you can make your final decision after seeing him."

Teddy nodded and got out of the car as soon as it was parked. Phil led her to an elevator and they were quiet as they made their way down to wherever the hospital ward was.

"What are the X-Men like?" Phil blurted.

Teddy smiled. "You a fan?"

"Just a little," Phil admitted. "I mean, I saw it on TV when Mystique saved the president. I have a few of the comic books, too, and some trading cards."

Now didn't feel like a good time to set the record straight that being a Mutant wasn't as glamorous as it looked on the outside. Sure things were better now. Well… better for some and only if you had desirable powers. Teddy was one of the lucky ones power-wise, but that didn't exempt her from prejudices and having to disclose if she was a Mutant or not on job applications.

"The X-Men are pretty cool," she said at last. "I loved learning at the school. If it weren't for them I wouldn't be the nurse I am today."

"Do you have an X-Men name?"

"Of course I do, it's something they assign you when you're accepted."

"What is it?"

"Menhit," said Teddy. "After the Nubian war goddess."

"And you don't fight?"

"I told them if they made me I would join the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants," she said. "So they let me remain a nurse."

They stopped in front of a door where Phil swiped his badge and punched in a password that he promised to disclose to her if she accepted the job.

"How are you with cold?" he asked.

"I can withstand temperatures up to negative twenty degrees celsius in nothing but a bikini," said Teddy.

"Great, but the bikini won't be necessary."

They passed a single, empty hospital bed and entered a heavy metal door that was opened by another passcode and badge scan. The cold startled Teddy as they entered a freezer.

"Whoa…" she breathed.

On a pedestal in a solid block of ice a couple feet thick was Captain America.

"So, you want me to safely thaw him and get him back to full health assuming he's alive in there?"

"Yes," said Phil. "We'll also need you to keep this a secret."

"Yeah, sure." Teddy had full intentions of telling Ida and her Momma all about this.

"Can you start right away?"

"Sure," said Teddy. "I'll just need to get someone to feed my cat and bring me spare scrubs and my laptop. I have finals coming up, and while I am taking online courses this semester, I would very much like to keep up with my studying. This is going to be a very long waiting game, Phil."

"Of course, Miss Williams," said Phil. He rocked on the balls of his feet. "What are the chances of him being alive?"

"If my theory is correct?" she studied the block of ice. "Eighty percent chance."

"So you'll take the job?"

"Of course."

They left the freezer and it didn't take long for the paperwork to be read and signed. Teddy would need to remain on site for the duration of the assignment and Ida agreed to watch the cat.

Despite her exhaustion, Teddy spent all night doing research on thawing meat and eventually came across the solution. Literally. She was given a team of people to work with and they went about constructing a giant vat full of a brine and antifreeze solution followed by a saline bath. She would also need a heart-lung machine, oxygen canisters, monitoring equipment, and lots and lots of drugs.

"Alright, Captain," said Teddy as the block of ice was lowered into the water. "Let's bring you into the twenty-first century."

It was tough work keeping the man's core temperature around 28-29°F, as she and her team spent hours in the tank.

As soon as he was thawed, Teddy set up the initial monitoring equipment and searched for a pulse.

"Oh, my God," she said and looked at everyone. "He's still alive. Alright, team, let's go. Let's get the cardiopulmonary bypass going. You two, get the saline bath ready. This is the homestretch, everything we do will be the difference between a funeral and Frankenstein."

She carried Captain Rogers to the saline bath herself. Now, they just had to bring his core temperature from below freezing to normal. Before that process, she injected him with drugs to keep his heart rate slow. It would be bad if he regained consciousness before oxygen had a chance to re-enter all his limbs. It was in the bath they were finally able to remove the suit. The bath was probably about as long as the thawing process.

Once they got Captain Rogers in the hospital bed and hooked him up to the monitoring equipment, Teddy released the breath she didn't realize she'd been holding.

"Okay, Captain Rogers," she said brushing his hair back. "You're going to be alright. I know when you wake up things are going to be scary, but I'll make sure you get through this, okay? Now, I'm gonna go take a break, but I'll just be in the other room. These machines will alert me if you're in trouble."

"Oh, my gosh…"

Teddy turned and gave Phil a smile.

"Can't believe he's actually here, huh?" she said.

"No, I can't," said Phil looking ready to faint then and there.

"Phil, can you keep an eye on him?" Teddy asked. "I've been at this for a really long time and I seriously need some coffee."

"Oh, of course," Phil gushed. "You can count on me, Miss Williams."

"If it looks like he's stirring or uncomfortable, press this button and it'll shoot him up with some drugs," said Teddy, holding up the button. "Don't worry about giving him too much, I set up a regulator. If he's anything like me, there's enough in him to tranquilize an elephant."

"Don't you worry, I will not leave his side."

"Phil, you'll have to leave his side eventually," said Teddy.

"I know."

Teddy left the room and stopped dead when she saw the new people in the hallway.

"So, that's the guy my dad went on about," said Tony Stark. "To think that he spent all that time looking for him and he really was alive out there. Not sure if he'd jump for joy or keel over from guilt."

Teddy squealed.

"Yeah, I get that reaction a lot."

She brushed past him to pick up the petite, brown-skinned girl with the honey curls.

"Ooh! Ida!" she shouted. "I didn't know you were gonna be here."

"I texted you," said Ida, returning the hug.

"Oh, girl, I haven't been at my phone for… like thirty hours," said Teddy. "I am figuratively dying for a latte right now."

"Ask and ye shall receive," said Ida, holding up a large cup of coffee.

"Yes!" Teddy took it and had a long swig and sighed. "Oh, I love you."

"I love you, too," Ida replied, most definitely smiling on the inside.

Tony Stark cleared his throat.

"Oh, right," said Ida. "Teddy, this is Tony Stark and my boss, Pepper Potts."

"Hello," said Pepper. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too," said Teddy, shaking her hand. "And you, too, Tony."

"You don't seem like the usual type for a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent," Tony commented.

Teddy looked down at her pink polka dot scrubs and smiled. "Probably because I'm not a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. I'm a student and I work as a nurse. Wait a sec, this area is supposed to be restricted, how did y'all get here?"

"I let myself in," said Tony.

"He does that," said Ida.

Teddy shrugged. Fair enough.

"I think I've seen enough," said Tony. "Teddy… is that short for anything?"

"Theodora."

"Teddy it is," he said. "Would you like to join us for lunch?"

"I thought you said you were too busy for lunch," said Pepper.

"Yeah, well, building Stark Tower is making me work up an appetite."

"There's actually a diner near here that has good-sized portions," said Teddy. "And it's close enough that if anything happens to Captain Rogers, I can run back here. Phil! Can you watch Captain Rogers while I grab a bite with my friends?"

"Yes, of course."

"Great," said Teddy with a sunny smile. "Just let me go change."

Twenty minutes later, Teddy was freshly showered and wearing her paisley scrubs in the back of the car being driven by Happy Hogan, Tony's bodyguard.

"So, what made you decide to thaw Captain America?" Tony asked.

"Is this a trick question?" Teddy asked. "He's Captain America, he broke down social barriers in the military! He spoke against Japanese Internment Camps and segregation. Isn't that the kind of person you want to keep alive?"

Her phone buzzed with a text from Ida.

**Tony is bitter about CA. I don't know a lot, but to me it seems like Howard preferred CA to Tony.**

Teddy exchanged a look with her friend. Yikes. That could lead to a messy meeting.

"Plus," Teddy continued, "I would be able to see if my thesis is correct. That the super soldier serum was really something that activated the Mutant gene. It might also prove that Bruce Banner didn't botch his own serum and that he actually activated a Mutant gene within himself."

"Thus proving that super soldiers are a variation of Mutant," Tony concluded.

"It would make sense wouldn't it?" Teddy asked. "Why the serum might make some people sick and turn others into a superhuman-slash-monster? Most of the time, the Mutant gene is activated under extreme amounts of pressure."

"Vita-Rays and Gamma Rays."

"Exactly."

"And is Cap a Mutant?"

"I don't know," said Teddy. "I don't have the right equipment and really that's something I would prefer to get verbal permission to test for."

Teddy didn't realize how hungry she was until they were sitting in a booth at the diner. She was starting to get the shakes so she ordered some toast right away.

"Can you put that thing away?" Pepper sighed.

"Just one moment," said Tony, not looking up from his tablet. "I'm actually very interested in our new friend, Miss Williams."

"You could just ask," said Teddy.

"Double-Major at NYU," he read. "Bio-organic chemistry, nuclear physics, with a minor in Mechanical Engineering, _plus_ you're a registered nurse. Impressive resumé."

"My dad always said I'd have to do twice the work to get half of what everyone else got," Teddy replied.

"And what is it you want to do?"

"I want to create affordable prosthetics that do what they need to do," she said.

"You know I have a hard time believing you're twenty-seven," he said. "You hardly look eighteen."

"That would be the rapid regeneration of my cells," said Teddy. "I would have to be awake for three more days before I start to look haggard. Why do I feel like this is an interview?"

"One more question."

"Just one?"

"If you were as rich as me, what would you spend frivolous money on?"

"Easy," said Teddy. "I would give our waitress three hundred bucks to give that dude in the back corner milk with ice cubes in it and offer an extra hundred for her to not say who sent it."

"Why?"

"Because when I went to get coffee from the cafeteria he told me that the bathrooms needed to be cleaned better."

"Ice milk it is," said Tony, grinning.

"Tony you are not sending anyone ice milk," said Pepper sternly.

"Too late, already on the brain," said Tony already hailing down Phyllis, their waitress.

Teddy and Tony fought to keep their laughter quiet as the agent flipped his lid over getting ice milk. Honestly, Teddy didn't think she'd like Tony as much as she did, but he was actually a pretty cool dude. When she saw him on TV she thought she'd be annoyed with him at best.

"I see here you're a Mutant," said Tony. "What are your powers?"

"Well, it says in my file that I exhibit superhuman properties," said Teddy. "Actually, since Mutanism is the next stage in the evolutionary trend, many Mutants have enhanced strength and accelerated healing."

"I know I do," said Ida. "But it's more like twice as fast and one-and-a-half times stronger."

"However, my first power is gravity manipulation."

"And what exactly is that?"

Teddy looked around to make sure they had no witnesses and wiggled her fingers, feeling the pull. Her chocolate milk floated out of her cup, keeping together in a ball.

"That is impressive," said Tony. "Can you move it around?"

"Only if you want chocolate milk in your lap."

"When she was thirteen, she figured out she could manipulate gravity to bring things closer," said Ida. "Doing so excessively potentially upsets the surrounding gravity and next thing you know your bed is on the ceiling and you're nearly breaking through the floor."

Teddy grinned sheepishly.

When the check came, she got a text from Phil that she needed to return so he could get back to work.

"We can drive you," said Pepper.

"Nah, I'd rather run," said Teddy. "The fresh air will do me good. Bye, Ida. Love you."

"Love you, too," Ida replied, giving her a giant hug. "Text me, okay?"

"I will. Bye, Pepper. Bye, Tony. Nice meeting you two."

"Nice meeting you, Teddy," said Tony.

Teddy nodded and left the diner, easily taking off into a run. The cool wind caressed her face and faces blurred as she pushed herself faster. She screeched to a halt outside S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ and let herself in. She pushed Phil out of the room and set up in the chair beside Steve with her laptop so she could work on her thesis.

"I hope you don't mind music," she said as she found an oldies playlist on Spotify. "I always work to music."


	2. Chapter 2

**Space Address:** 4D - Tea

**Word Count:** 3088, Steve is going to get eaten by a dragon for going over word count, but I cannot trim anymore.

**Warnings:** Incompetent government agents; sedation

~o0o~

Teddy watched over Captain Rogers for two weeks. She had to leave to take her finals, but it was only for a few hours and her patient was doing fine. He might actually be ready to wake up soon. His vital signs were back to normal and his brain functions were good. He could even breath on his own and he was showing rapid eye movement. She had been rehearsing what to say to him when he woke up, find a way to gently explain why nothing looked the same, and offer assistance on catching up on current events.

"Hey, Teddy," Phil greeted her when she returned. "How'd your finals go?"

"I think I did pretty good," she said. "One more year and I might finally get my PhD. Are you visiting Captain Rogers again?"

"Well, I heard you mention that he might he ready to wake up soon and wanted to be there."

"Understandable," said Teddy with a light laugh. She entered the room and her laughter died.

"Phil? Where's Captain Rogers?"

"Oh, no… I told Nick this was a bad idea…"

Teddy narrowed her eyes and grabbed her emergency supplies. "Take me to him."

Not wanting to argue, Phil led Teddy through HQ until they found Director Nick Fury staring at several screens.

"Where the hell is my patient?" Teddy asked.

"Miss Williams, nice to see you, too," said Fury. "Captain Rogers is fine. He's in a simulation room and when he wakes up he'll think he's in 1945."

Teddy looked at the room and scoffed. "That's ridiculous! You're going to let him wake up alone and playing a baseball game from 1941? He's not stupid he'll figure—" She paused and thought. "You're testing him. See if he's the real deal."

"That's right."

That just pissed her off more.

"You do realize this is gonna turn out bad, right?" she said. "We have no idea what mental state he's going to be in! What if he jumps to his feet and the blood rush causes him to black out and he hits his head and goes back into a coma?"

"I know you care about him—"

"Of course I care about him, he's my patient!"

"We've got this all under control Miss Williams," said Fury. "Look, he's waking up now."

Teddy watched the screen with her fingers pressed to her lips as Captain Rogers slowly sat up.

All she could think about was how wrong all this was.

"Who the hell is that?" she asked when a woman entered the room. "You do realize you might've put her in danger!"

The three of them watched as Captain Rogers threw two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents through the wall.

"Oh, yeah, you've got this," said Teddy sarcastically and dug out a needle filled with cyclobenzaprine before giving chase.

Captain Rogers made it just outside before Teddy caught him. They grappled a bit before she managed to pin him against the wall.

"Sorry about this," she said, pulling the band of his pants down and jamming the needle into his cheek.

He went slack, she picked him up, and brought him back inside to his original room.

"Yeah, you sure had it handled," she growled as she passed Fury and Phil.

Once Steve was back in his hospital gown, she went about making sure he could wake up in a low-stimuli environment. To make herself seem as non-threatening as possible, she changed into the scrubs with the bunnies on them and sat down in a chair with her textbook instead of her laptop.

Soon, he stirred, opened his eyes, and lifted his head.

"Good afternoon, Captain Rogers," she said.

"Where am I?" he asked.

"You're in a recovery room in New York City run by Strategic Homeland Enforcement, Intervention, and Logistics Division," she said. "Commonly known as S.H.I.E.L.D. It's kinda like the S.S.R."

"Do you work for them?"

"Not really," she said. "I'm a nurse and a student. This is temporary."

He sat up and looked around the room, confusion and fear crossing his face.

"I crashed the Valkyrie," he said slowly. "Into the ice… How long was I under?"

Teddy sighed and closed her book. "Captain Rogers, I know this will be difficult to hear… but it's the year 2011. You've been in the ice for sixty-six years."

Captain Rogers fell back into his pillows and Teddy stood up to make sure that he hadn't fainted. She saw him staring at the ceiling in disbelief.

"Are you going to be okay?" she asked.

"It's just… I had a date."

That's right, Agent Carter and he were a thing. Teddy sat down on the edge of the bed and rested her hand on his forearm.

"Listen," she said. "I'm not a shrink or anything, but if you want someone to talk to, I'm here to help. Okay?"

"Miss Williams?"

Teddy looked up to see two agents standing in the doorway.

"Director Fury thanks you for your assistance," said the first one.

"S.H.I.E.L.D.s doctors are more than capable of taking over," the second one said condescendingly.

"What?" Teddy jumped to her feet. "My patient _just_ woke up and you're already kicking me out? If it weren't for me, y'all would have been thawing him out with hair dryers and he'd've been known as Captain Gangrene."

"Miss Williams, we'll have to ask you to pack your things and leave within the next half hour."

"Fine," said Teddy. "Just fine. I'm ready to go home anyway, see my cat, and get back to work."

"You're leaving?" Captain Rogers asked.

"Like I said, I don't even work here," she replied. "I'm just a nurse at Mount Sinai. Listen, Captain, I'm glad you're alright. Good luck dealing with these people. This world has many amazing things. Don't let the past blind you to them."

She packed up her things and left in a huff.

~o0o~

Three weeks. It had been three weeks since Steve found himself in a world familiar yet… not. He was surrounded by people who were either starstruck or just plain condescending. Some were trying to talk him into joining S.H.I.E.L.D. as an agent but he wasn't sure what he wanted to do yet.

Honestly, he still couldn't manage to wrap his head around this. Most if not all his friends were dead and he felt completely alone in this world. Most days, he spent reading, trying to catch up and going to this old-fashioned 24-hour gym. He went to the S.H.I.E.L.D. gym once and left almost immediately.

_If you want someone to talk to, I'm here to help._

That nurse … sure she tackled him down and jammed a needle in his ass, but she seemed nice and earnest. Where did she say she worked at again? Mount Sinai. Hopefully she was working today. Steve hailed down a taxi and stared out the window as the driver took him where he wanted to go.

The driver said absolutely nothing on the drive there, to Steve's relief, and he paid the man and got out when they arrived.

The building was huge but luckily there was a check-in right inside.

"Hello, sir, how can I help you?" the woman asked.

"I'm looking for someone," he said. "A nurse that works here, Miss Williams? Could you tell me if she's working today?"

"We can't disclose the information of our employees," she replied.

"I'm a former patient of hers," he said. "It's important that I talk to her."

"Sir, if you are not checking into this hospital then I suggest you leave."

Steve pursed his lips and backed away.

"Captain Rogers?"

He turned to see Miss Williams standing there in her bunny scrubs, a big bag slung over her shoulder, and her mass of curly hair held back by a thick headband.

"Uh, hi," said Steve. "I hope your offer to talk is still open."

"Yes, of course. Walk with me, we can get some tea." When they left the hospital, she continued talking. "How have you been, Captain?"

"Please, call me Steve," he said.

"Teddy," she replied.

"Well, Teddy, I'm not really doing all that great," he said. "Physically, I feel fine, but…"

"You feel out of place and don't really know how to describe how lonely you feel?"

He nodded.

Teddy slung an arm around his shoulders. "I don't know much about that, but I've got friends who do. People who have lost everything and everyone. I'll be there myself one day."

"You will?"

"Yeah, but I try not to think about it," she said. "Makes me sick to my stomach. I want to focus more on you. Are they treating you alright?"

"About as well as they're able," he said. "I tend to bounce between lab rat and encyclopedia."

"They teaching you about the modern world?"

"They're trying, but they're talking to me like I'm stupid," Steve said. "Doesn't really make me want to listen."

"Alright, we can go over to my place, I've got some things that will get you started."

"Sounds swell."

"I do have a question."

"Yeah, go ahead," he sighed.

"Don't worry, it's not that kind of question," Teddy assured him, accurately reading his tone. "You were an artist, right?"

"Yes."

"Well, I accidentally packed some of my ex's stuff when I moved out and she had a shitload of empty sketchbooks and a pack of charcoal pencils, do you want them?"

"Will he mind?"

"I don't give a rat's ass if she minds or not, we're through. Besides, she threw the stuff I left behind away."

_She._ Steve was incredibly curious and the question weighed in, but he knew it was none of his business. She was respecting his business, so he would respect hers.

"Sure, I'll take them," he said.

"Thank you! Alright, what kind of questions you got?"

Steve asked whatever came to mind. It was a bit easier to think as they cut through Central Park to get to Teddy's apartment. The noise of the city was muffled by the tree line and nobody paid them any attention.

"So, when did all these advertisements come about?" Steve asked.

"Oh, I knew that at one point," said Teddy. "Let me check my notes."

She dug a small rectangle out of her pocket and tapped in a passcode with her thumb. The photo was of her and another woman with brown skin, freckles, and a neutral expression.

"Who's that?" Steve asked.

"Ida," said Teddy. "My best friend. We met when my twin sister and I went to school in Westchester. She actually works for Stark Industries as the personal assistant to the CEO, Pepper Potts."

The picture disappeared, replace by a brief, purple screen and then a wall of words. Teddy flipped through them.

"Ah! Here we go," she said. "Advertisements grew in popularity post-World War II along with the economic boom. People had money to spend, so companies had to find a way to get people to spend that money. It escalated into the capitalist-slash-consumerist industry we have today. You should probably know now, Steve, that nothing is built to last anymore. The only things that are built to last are leather shoes and wool coats. Nah, last year we were on Blackberries and this year it's a computer in your pocket."

"I thought Blackberries were a type of fruit and computers were women who did math. Bucky dated a computer once, but it ended when she had to move."

"Uh, right, let's rewind to Alan Turing. He's actually the reason you guys won the war because he broke Enigma."

"Someone broke Enigma?" Steve gasped. "Why didn't anyone tell me?"

"Probably because it was only recently made public knowledge since they no longer use Enigma."

Steve had a grasp of computers and mobile phones by the time they made it to Teddy's apartment. He was a bit comforted to know that technology was moving faster than even people younger than him could keep up with.

"Here we are," said Teddy as she unlocked an iron door. "Home sweet home."

They walked up a staircase so narrow, Steve's shoulders brushed the walls. Teddy unlocked another door to apartment 2A and shoved her weight against it, where it promptly banged into a another wall. The pair squeezed into a studio apartment. Against one wall was a stove/oven with a microwave above it, and a small stretch of cabinets. There were two doors beside it, one probably being the pantry and the other the bathroom. In her living space, she had a plump green couch and a coffee table facing a large screen. Surrounding the screen was a number of books. A paper screen divided the room and Steve assumed that behind it was Teddy's bed and dresser. Above all, he noticed how clean it was. It wasn't sterile, but it seemed that everything had a place, even the clutter, if that made any sense.

"Go on and have a seat," said Teddy. "Are you hungry?"

"Uh, I could eat."

"Great, I'll order us some pizza, but I've got some tea and cookies to snack on while we wait."

Steve sat down and jumped when the biggest cat he had ever seen in his life jumped onto the couch with him.

"Steve, meet Thor," said Teddy. "Thor, meet Steve. We like Steve. Steve is a friend."

The cat meowed and flopped onto its side. Steve considered himself more a dog person since cats made him wheeze when he was growing up, but he found himself stroking its soft fur. Thor began to purr and rolled on his back.

Teddy placed a bowl of pretzels on the coffee table and placed a glass of water in front of Steve for him to drink while the tea steeped.

"Make sure you hydrate," she said. "I did mean to ask, how has your recovery been?"

"It's been fine, I think," he replied. "I haven't had any issues."

"Mmkay." She pulled a basket out from under the coffee table and pulled out a remote.

"Wait a second," said Steve. "Now I recognize this. I saw one at World Fair. They said every house in America would have one."

"Well, they were right," said Teddy. "You can get five hundred channels and not a damn thing to watch."

Steve listened and watched as she described and demonstrated how to access Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime. Amongst her ex-girl's notebooks, there was a small one that he started writing down book, movie, and documentary recommendations in.

"Now, your big crash courses are gonna be the documentary series the Seventies, the Eighties, and the Nineties and they're on Netflix, which you can use on any laptop and I'll let you share my account."

"I don't have a computer yet," said Steve. "They wouldn't give me one."

"It's okay, I got a spare," said Teddy. "It's a little slow, but it'll get done what you need it to get done. Actually, I think I still have my iPhone 4, I recently got the 4S. We can get you set up with a service provider and then you can call or message me at any time. I might not answer right away, but it'll get the question out there."

"Do you work tomorrow?" Steve asked.

"Nope," she popped the 'p'. "I got the day off. Why?"

"Well, if I'm going to catch up on everything, might as well catch up with fashion, too, right?"

"Sure, I think we'll find something that suits you," she said. "Want to watch a movie? You'll definitely be wanting to catch up on pop culture."

"Sounds great."

"Cool. I think we'll go with… _The Princess Bride_."

~o0o~

Steve awoke by sunlight to find a cat mere inches from his face. He sat up abruptly, launching the feline across the room.

"Morning, Sleeping Beauty."

"Did I fall asleep?" he asked, turning to look at Teddy.

"Yeah," she said and tossed him an apple. "You looked so peaceful, I didn't want to wake you and kick you out. Besides, I got extra tooth brushes and we'll be getting you some new clothes today anyway."

"I appreciate it, I actually don't know where these clothes came from anyway."

"Before we go, do you know if S.H.I.E.L.D. might let you borrow a car? I don't like hauling shopping bags on the subway."

"I can ask," he said. "I should probably check in anyway before they think I'm dead."

"Oh, they've got eyes on you," Teddy assured him. "We've got two agents waiting outside."

"How do you know?"

"Every government agent owns a Ford Focus," she replied and peered through the blinds. "Yep, black suits. Unlabeled coffee and pastry products."

Steve got up and looked out. Sure enough, he recognized Agents Smith and Butler just waiting for him to leave so they could keep tailing him. He didn't like the idea that he was being followed all the time.

"If you're worried about privacy, get used to not having any," she said. "If you decide to become Captain America full time, people are going to recognize you and they'll want pictures and autographs. And then you gotta deal with the haters."

"Haters?"

"People who will go out of their way to insult you or nitpick anything you do," Teddy explained as she pressed a button on a small machine and it made one cup of coffee. "They'll come out of the woodwork with stuff that you did when you were a kid and claim that people shouldn't like you simply because of something you did a long time ago."

"Sounds harsh," said Steve. "I think I might've preferred taking it to a back alley."

"And that's another thing," said Teddy. "You can't go picking fights. I know it will be tempting, but you're not that little guy from Brooklyn. You'll need to get used to using your words unless they're a pervert or a racist. Anything could be labelled as assault and you do not want to end up in court, trust me."

"Sounds like a lot more changed socially than I realized," said Steve.

"Depends on what side you're on. Come on, let's go ask those guys for a car and we can get breakfast on the go." Teddy put a couple of the brownies she baked last night on a plate for the Agents, grabbed her purse, and the pair left.


	3. Chapter 3

**Posting because I never learn my goddamn lesson. The original version of this story was going to be more canon compliant, but my muse said that's dumb, so we're not going to do that. This is more of a self-indulgent throwback to 2012 Avengers fics where everyone was friends.**

_June 10th_

It was late in the afternoon when Teddy got a call from a frantic Steve.

"What's new, chuckaboo?" she asked.

_"I don't know what I did wrong," _he said.

Uh oh. "Shit, what happened? Metal in the microwave? Drop your phone in water? Wait, if you did that, you wouldn't be calling."

_"Please, come over. I don't know how to deal with this."_

"Alright, big breath." She heard him suck some air and release it slowly. "I'll be right over."

She shoved her wallet and phone into a little backpack and ran down to the bike rental place. Thoughts ran through her head about what might have happened ranging from minor things like breaking the remote to disastrous stuff like the oven or microwave catching on fire. She pedaled so fast she was pretty sure she would cause damage to the bike.

He answered the door before she even had a chance to knock, probably watching for her after they got off the phone. She saw the problem immediately.

Piles upon piles of white bubbles flooded out of the kitchen. Towels lined the kitchen doorway soaking up the water from the wood floors. A frazzled Steve was staring wide eyed between her and the mess.

"Oh, sweetie," she said before bursting out into laughter.

He flushed. "It's not funny."

She clamped her mouth shut trying not to laugh, but ended up snorting really loudly.

"Steve, darling, sweetie, precious, did you put dish soap into the dishwasher?"

He nodded silently.

She pulled him into a hug and patted his back. "It's okay, I've done that too. It happens to the best of us."

She could tell he felt a little better that he wasn't the only one. They got the mess cleaned up and, once they put conditioner in the empty washer, she gently set the record straight about the difference between dish soap and dish washer soap.

_June 25th_

"What's the lesson for today?" Steve asked, watching Teddy pull things out of the bookcase.

He learned very quickly that Teddy was a stickler for keeping things orderly. She always started the dishwasher after dinner; whether it was full or not didn't matter. Her DVDs were alphabetized, her books on the decimal system, she kept a color coded planner, and even organized her food by type. Not that he was complaining. It was a little weird that she did the same for his apartment, claiming that the lack of organization bothered her. She didn't touch his room, so he let it slide.

"Video games," Teddy replied revealing two black controllers. "Studies show video games help with coordination, social development, and strategy."

"I don't think I'll be any good at it," he protested weakly.

"Not with that attitude."

He chuckled a little. She said that every time he made a negative connotation, but there were occasions where she dropped the subject.

The TV flicked on and the sounds of revving cars filled the room.

_"Mario Kart Eight!" _a cheerful voice cried before a snazzy tune began.

Teddy explained the controllers to him as well as how to play, but when she noticed his confuzzled look she waved her hand. "Let's just jump in and I'll explain as we go along."

He looked down at the controller and the screen of characters. Teddy picked a green animal named Yoshi, he perused them and ended up picking a small man in a white mask and red shirt called 'Shy Guy'.

"Hit A. Hit A again. Again. Again. Okay, when the countdown reaches 'one' hold down A and steer with the toggle. Watch the right side of the screen."

He did as she said. It was tough, he kept moving his hands like a steering wheel as well as the toggle causing him to smash into walls. He finished last, but for some reason he didn't want to quit. So, they played again.

"Fuck!" he shouted when he got hit with three red shells consecutively.

"Ooh, I hate it when that happens," Teddy groaned.

They played again and again until he got used to it, by dinner time he was steady between eighth and fifth place.

After dinner, it was decided that Steve would head home, but before he did, Teddy had a surprise for him.

"This is my Nintendo DS," she said, handing him a black rectangle that flipped open revealing two screens. "Here are a couple easy games. Animal Crossing, Pokemon, and one that's inspired by you."

She briefly explained how to turn it on and how to know when to charge it, as well as switching games out.

"Thanks," he said and slipped that pack into his backpack. "I don't know how I manage without you."

She smiled. "You'd manage. You just wouldn't be having any fun."

_July 4th_

Steve was on his way home from his morning work out when he got a call from Teddy.

_"Hey, Steve," _she said cheerfully. _"Happy Birthday."_

"Thanks," he smiled.

_"So, listen, wanna go to the park today and celebrate?"_

He hadn't celebrated his birthday in years. Bucky always managed to snag him a candy bar on that day, but when the war started there just wasn't any time.

"Okay. That sounds nice."

_"What's your favorite cake flavor?"_

That was a tough question. There was only two times in his life he got an actual birthday cake. When he was five and when he was thirteen. Mam scrimped together enough money to buy sugar and enough fresh fruit for…

"Apple cake."

_"Alright, I'll see what I can do. Why don't you come by at six and we can go to Central Park after presents. They got all kinds of celebrations there, so it'll be fun."_

"Yeah, it will. See ya then."

_"Okay, bye."_

He pocketed his phone and smiled. When he became Captain America, people didn't quite believe his birthday was on the 4th of July. It seemed kind of fitting looking at it now.

Mam made sure he had one thing to open each year and when he befriended Bucky, the Barnes Family got him a gift as well. Mostly books and one year a box of colored pencils. Him and Bucky would climb up onto the roof to see the fireworks and pretend they were just for Steve.

He supposed this year some really would be for him. He saw the fliers on the subway. It felt a little weird that a childhood fantasy had come true.

At least he wasn't going to spend the day alone.

Steve and Teddy grew close as friends through texting and calling. They also worked it out that he would walk her to and from her weekly shift at the hospital so they could talk and she could explain things to him in person, without throwing her off her meticulously made schedule.

She taught him a lot and even gave him her History notes from college to help him catch up on more than pop culture. He was surprised by how much there was that he didn't know, even from when he lived.

The day went by fairly fast, he spent it reading one of the books Teddy recommended called _Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. _He finished it by the afternoon and was well into _The Chamber of Secrets _when it was time for him to get ready to go.

He dressed casually in a t-shirt and jeans and took his motorcycle to her place. The entire city was decorated in red, white, and blue bows and streamers. People milled about on the sidewalk dressed in similar colors going to parties.

A harried blonde that looked almost like Natasha in a Betsy Ross type dress chased after a little boy in similar era attire. There weren't as many decorations by the time he made it to Teddy's neighborhood. He took the stairs up to her floor and texted her of his arrival.

She opened the door already dressed in a sleeveless blouse and jean shorts.

"Hey," she greeted. "Come on in. I just finished your cake."

She bustled around as he entered, dragging a table out from behind her bookshelf and unfolding it. She quickly and efficiently set out plates, forks, napkins, and two glasses of blue lemonade.

She pulled a lighter out of a drawer, lit the cake on the counter, sang a birthday song for him, and placed it in front of him. It was a simple square cake covered in off-white frosting. '_Happy Birthday Steve_' was written out in candy letters and two number-candles reading 95 were lit.

"Make a wish," she said.

He squeezed his eyes shut and blew out the candles, but didn't make a wish.

Teddy clapped her hands and gave him a pink, wedge-shaped serving knife that was serrated on one edge. "You have to cut the first piece."

It was fluffy and Steve was pretty sure those were real apples instead of canned ones. The smell was heavenly.

"What about dinner?" he questioned.

"You're going to be hungry again in an hour," she reasoned.

"Good point."

Steve took a fork and scooped out the first bite. He stuck it in his mouth and closed his eyes. It was sweet and just about melted in his mouth. He could taste everything, the apples, the walnuts, and the cinnamon. The icing was rich and creamy, but didn't overpower the cake in any way. It was one of the best desserts he'd ever had. He was instantly flashed back to when he was five. His mam ruffling his hair, a smile on her tired face.

"How do you like it?" Teddy asked. "I've never made apple cake before."

Steve smiled. "It's great. Amazing."

"Good. My sister is the better baker and I'm pretty good with meals in general."

"It tastes just like my mam's apple cake."

Her eyes softened. "Wow…that's a really big compliment. Thank you. Anyway, I was thinking we could get hotdogs and chips at the park, but I put some cold beverages in my backpack to save money," Teddy said snapping him back to reality. "They always got something going on. Have you seen the Zoo yet? There's an art museum that does a light show and then plays your movies on the side of the building."

"Sounds fun," Steve said, not really picking anything from her list.

"By the way." Teddy reached into her armoire and pulled out a big package wrapped up in shiny blue and green striped paper. "I got you a gift."

"Oh, you didn't have to. You spoil me enough already."

"But I wanted to," said Teddy. "It's a rule that you have to open something on your birthday."

"Well…if it's a rule." Steve excitedly tore off the paper to find a sleek wooden case. He ran his hand along the top and opened it. The wide assortment of art supplies inside made his inner artist swoon. Oil pastels, water colors, charcoal, colored pencils, and markers.

"My friend said you were an artist, so I wanted you to be able to explore your artistic abilities," she explained. "Plus, the local community college offers free classes to veterans so you could take a couple of art classes to learn new techniques."

"Wow…" Steve closed the case and gave Teddy a big hug. "Thanks, this birthday has been swell so far."

"I'm glad."

They polished off the last bit of cake and made their way downstairs to Steve's motorcycle.

Teddy grinned when she saw it. It reminded her of the one she saw in old pictures of Steve. "Awesome! Where's your helmet?"

"Helmet?" he furrowed his brow.

"It's against the law to go without a helmet," she informed him. "I'm sure we'll be okay for today, but still."

"I didn't know that," he said. "I'll look into it."

Central Park was crazy, stupid crowded. The air was thick with barbecue smoke and pigeons fluttered around hoping for handouts. Steve flushed in embarrassment when he saw the amount of t-shirts and toys with his image on them. His embarrassment grew even further when they passed by his statue. The number of flowers, gifts, and letters piled around the base was hard to determine.

"Are you going to collect those?" Teddy asked teasingly. "They are for you after all."

He shook his head. "I'm not ready for people to know what I look like. It'd just be too weird."

"Fair enough, though with that haircut it might be a little obvious," she draped an arm across his shoulders and steered him away from the statue. "I think I see a hotdog stand. I'm buying."

"I can pay," he argued.

"I know you can, but it's your birthday. Big birthday rules: Number one) never bake your own cake, number two) never light your own candles, number three) no chores if you can manage it, number four) if possible never pay for stuff within reason, and number five) cut the first slice of cake. Bad juju if you break these."

"Bad juju for lighting your own candles?" he questioned.

"Oh yeah, I baked my own cake once and the oven caught fire."

He blinked in surprise. "Okay, good to know."

After a dinner of hotdogs, chips, and coca-cola, Steve and Teddy wandered around the park watching all of the activities being held by various summer programs.

Everything was fine and dandy until:

_Pop! Pop! Pop!_

A whistle, flash and boom sent him right back to the middle of war when the Commandos got caught up in the trenches. Grenades exploded left and right. A man with a crater through his skull. Men with missing limbs due to land mines.

_Bang!_

"GET DOWN!" He tackled the soldier beside him to the ground as something whistled overhead.

"Steve… Steve!"

He was suddenly jolted back to reality. A group of children stared at him, jaws dropped. Two of them held sparklers. A couple of adults came over and stood between him and the children.

"Hey, buddy. It's okay," Teddy said soothingly and helped him sit up. She turned to the parents. "Sorry about that. He's a war veteran you see. I didn't consider that the fireworks would trigger him."

A mother nodded, but still gripped her child's shoulder tightly. "My father was like that after Vietnam."

Steve was vaguely aware of Teddy helping him stand up. "Let's get you home, okay?"

He nodded mutely.

Everything felt a bit surreal after that. The walk back to his bike, the ride to Teddy's, he didn't feel grounded again until he was inside her apartment and Teddy had draped her comforter around his shoulders.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I don't know what happened."

"I do," she sat down next to him. "It's called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. A lot of Mutants get it and I have some friends that were in war. You called it 'shell shock' in your time."

"I get dreams sometimes," he said. "I didn't think it would affect me when I was awake."

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked. "Burdens are easier to share with another person."

He shook his head. "No. Not now."

"Okay. I'll try to be around when you are, okay?"

He nodded.

Before the fireworks started throughout the city, Teddy made a small blanket fort and set him up with her earbuds. They felt funny in his ears at first, then music started to play. He flinched at the thunderous sound of fireworks and the music immediately turned up louder. He saw Teddy manning the music through her phone. Slagathor settled her massive body into Steve's lap and purred.

He closed his eyes and focused only on the lyrics of the songs Teddy played while she watched TV and rubbed his back.

Steve thanked God he had a friend like Teddy come his way.

_July 30th_

Steve and Teddy were hanging out at his apartment and watching a movie. He picked her up after her twelve hour shift and cooked her dinner. With her help, he was getting better at flavoring his food and getting everything finished on time.

Now, they were splitting a bowl of trail mix and watching one of the movies on Steve's list. She grabbed one old style movie (_Some Like it Hot_) and one newer style movie (_Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone_).

"How are they doing that?" Steve asked in amazement at the special effects.

"A green screen," Teddy replied. "Kinda like how you would walk in front of a set? The green screen opens up a wider range of backgrounds."

"Neat!"

"It _is _neat."

With Teddy's schooling, Steve was coming to appreciate the new age technology. When they watched movies, she set him up with her tablet and when a reference was made, Teddy told him and he looked it up and if it was from a movie it was added to the online shared document.

Teddy tilted her head and pulled a buzzing phone out of her pocket. "Oh, it's Georgia." She paused the movie and answered.

Steve listened quietly as Teddy answered her phone. "Hey, Gigi. How'd it go? Did she say yes?" He jumped when Teddy squealed and bounced up and down. "Oh, my God! When's the wedding? Really? Next July. That is, like, forever. I know, I know it's the insurance, but even so. Of course, I'm your Maid of Honor. Yeah, sure! Okay, I love you, bye bye."

She hung up and squealed even louder. "My sister is getting married!"

"I gathered," Steve said with a smile.

"She has been with Inez for three years. I am _so _happy for them."

"Inez is a woman?" Steve asked. "They can do that now?"

Teddy paused. "Yes. Gay marriage is partially legal now. A lot of places are still being stupid, but we'll get there."

Steve swallowed hard. "Can…can I confide in you?"

Still maintaining eye contact, Teddy set her phone on the coffee table and settled on the couch so she was facing him fully. "Shoot."

"This is something I've never told anyone. Not Mam, not Bucky, not even my priest." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I like men and women. Romantically, I mean." He'd dealt with these feelings for years, but all it would get him was in eugenics testing. "I… I lived in one of the queer neighborhoods while going to art school, but I never… I was scared someone would find out."

Teddy reached across and rested her hands on his shoulders. "It's okay, there's nothing wrong with it. It's called bisexual. I'm that way, my sister is that way, my Mama is that way, one of my little brothers is gay and I know a couple pansexuals and asexuals."

"You're that way too?" He asked. He immediately felt lighter, sharing this with somebody.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of."

He nodded. "Right! And if it wasn't natural, the serum would've fixed it."

Teddy stared at him wide-eyed and grinned. "Can I document that statement?"

He felt his face warm up. "Not yet… I'd rather speak it for myself."

She nodded and settled back into her spot. "I understand."

"I've known a few queers in my day, but—"

He paused when she got that cringe that told him he said something unacceptable by today's standards. "What did I say?"

"Be careful about the use of 'queer'. Some people in the LGBT community find it offensive and others are trying to reclaim it in a way. I personally don't mind, but I do not speak for everyone. If someone identifies that way, respect their wishes, but I wouldn't use it as an umbrella term."

"Got it." He stashed away that mental note. "So…is it really okay to be that way nowadays? People are okay with it?"

She shrugged. "Younger generation, mostly. Older generation, depends. They don't think it's natural."

He hesitated "I'd never… I mean…it was illegal you know. And I just…and then the army would've…"

Teddy shushed him. "You don't have to explain. Experiences don't determine your sexuality, only what you feel."

He nodded.

"Mind you, bisexuality is frowned upon in both communities, which is stupid," she warned. "You'll hear a lot of nasty things."

"I've had a lot of bad things said to me and about people like me before," he said. "Back when I was disabled there was a lot of talk of eugenics. I don't care what's said to me. I mostly care what they say to others."

"That's a lie and you know it. Sticks and stones may break your bones, but words leave psychological wounds that never heal."

He choked. "Where did you hear that?"

"Children's show."

He chuckled and shook his head. Television was weird. "You know? It feels good that somebody knows."

She smiled. "I'm glad you're comfortable enough around me to tell me."

"Are you sure your Mutation isn't a chemical to get people to trust you and spill all their secrets?"

"I sure hope not. I hate keeping secrets. I'll keep them if I have to, but I'm not one to hide things."

"I don't mind. I don't like when people keep secrets from me."

She turned serious for a moment. "Make sure you try not to hold too many secrets from others, too. Especially if it effects your teammates lives. I've seen it in movies, that's how shit happens and everything gets messed up. Like in Harry Potter—wait you've read book three right?"

He nodded in confirmation.

"If Sirius had just said from the beginning that he was after the Rat, then they might've avoided the full moon and Harry would be free of the Dursleys. Or any movie or book where the truth is told in the most hurtful way possible at the climax and turns loved ones against the main character. You know?"

He couldn't argue with that. "I'll keep it in mind."

"But, you don't have to tell them you like men. That's your own damn business."

"Right."

She rubbed the back of her neck and then tugged on her earlobe. "Since you shared that, I want to share something with you."

"You don't have to."

"I know." She mulled over her words. "I'm twenty-seven and I still look twenty. I'm going to see everyone, except my dad and a few others, grow old without me in the next fifty years."

He never knew that. Teddy never talked about her Mutation save for her super strength, gravity manipulation, and quick healing. Come to think of it…

"Teddy…are you saying my…powers are like yours?" he asked. "You think I might be a Mutant?"

"Except for the gravity manipulation? Yeah." She sighed. "I told you I'm in grad school right?"

He nodded in confirmation.

"My dissertation is all about activated Mutants. My theory consists of people who became Mutants later in life post-puberty by an outside source. In your case: the super soldier serum and Vita-Rays. The Fantastic Four in Boston were activated by these kind of rays in space and Bruce Banner was activated by a serum and Gamma Rays," she explained.

"How would you be able to tell?" he asked.

"I don't have a lab so…" she paused and bit her thumb as she thought. "Next week. Clear your schedule for a few days, we're gonna go on a trip. I can have access to a lab where I can confirm my theory _and _there's someone there you once knew."

He perked up at that. "Can you take off work on such short notice?"

She nodded. "The last time I took a sick day was when I was scheduled to work during one of my finals and that was two years ago. I haven't had a vacation in a year and a half. It'll be fun."

He hadn't been anywhere since he went to that secret cabin after the Battle of New York. He'd had a bit of a meltdown after that and needed to get away from it all. At least he had someone like Teddy waiting there to help him.

"Okay," he said. "Where are we going?"

"Westchester, New York."

_August 5th_

Steve packed his duffle bag and picked Teddy up early in the morning. She was waiting for him with her own duffle bag and a small, red cooler. They traded seats and she adjusted the driver's seat accordingly. It was almost comical how her hair flattened against the roof.

"I brought some tunes for the road," she said and connected her phone wirelessly to the car. He still wasn't sure how bluetooth worked (he imagined a phone that replaced your tooth), but thought it was neat anyway. "I found this cool station that does covers of new songs but in the style of jazz. I figured it'd be a good compromise."

As they listened to the Post-Modern Jukebox, Teddy sang along and Steve drummed his fingers. They stopped once for slushies.

About two hours later, they were driving down a wooded area. Steve did a double take when he thought he saw a silver blur come down the road. He shook it off thinking it was a trick of the light. The whole place was really picturesque. The kind of thing you'd see in a postcard or a calendar.

Teddy paused in front of a set of wrought iron gates with a giant gold colored X on them. He read the sign on the brick wall

_Charles Xavier's School for Gifted Children_

Teddy stopped the music, rolled down the window, and pressed an intercom button.

It crackled and a young voice responded. _"Who is it?"_

"Teddy Williams," she replied.

_"Who?"_

Teddy sighed. "You know… Menhit?"

_"Oh! Yeah, I heard about you, come on in."_

There was a loud buzz and the gates opened. Teddy drove up to the mansion Steve recognized from the painting at her apartment. It was more like a castle with high stone walls and narrow windows.

A man with short cropped brown hair (that was probably going a little grey) and red tinted sunglasses opened the giant front door to meet them once they parked in the gravel driveway.

"That's Scott," Teddy said and smiled. "Hey! Long time, no see. How's Jean?"

"She's great," he said. "We're both doing well." He eyed…well, Steve was pretty sure Scott was eyeing him suspiciously. It was hard to tell behind the visor.

"What happened to Allison?"

Teddy cringed. "She broke up with me several months ago. It wasn't pretty. This is my friend Steve. I'm pretty sure he's an activated Mutant."

"Oh, well, I'm sure Hank will be happy to let you use his lab."

"Awesome. Oh, and tell Wolverine and the Professor we're here."

Scott shook his head, probably rolling his eyes. "You are pretty much his favorite aren't you? Knowing him your X-Men name should be Sunshine."

"No, Sunshine gains power from the sunlight, you know that."

Scott muttered something that sounded like "smart ass" and let the pair into the school. It was gorgeous inside and probably the fanciest place he'd ever been in.

Kids and teens passing through the area carrying books. Teenager was a new term for Steve when he woke up. Apparently, after the war, people had enough money that kids didn't need to go right to work and had money to spend which is where advertising became big.

He glanced around the front hall wishing he had his sketchbook with him. The window in front of the grand staircase flooded the room with bright light, the carpet was probably oriental, the furniture was a rich cherry or maybe mahogany, and there were marble pillars standing guard at both hallways. Not to mention the numerous book cases.

"Steve," Teddy said, snapping him out of it. She smiled. "Get a good look, it'll probably blow up next year."

"It doesn't blow up _that _often."

Steve turned and jumped slightly. Here he thought Red Skull or the Hulk looked odd. This man was blue all over with short spiked hair and even spikier teeth. His devil-like tail whipped around and he had three fingers and toes on each hand.

"Kurt!" Teddy scooped the being into a big hug.

"It's been a while," he said with a grin and looked to Steve. "Who's your handsome friend?"

"Steve."

Steve got over his initial shock and offered a hand. "Nice to meet you."

Kurt seemed pleased with this and shook it. "Nice to meet you too. I am Kurt. I teach Geography."

"We're here to see Hank," Teddy said. "And Wolverine."

"Ah, then I won't keep you." He disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Before he could react, Teddy led Steve down the hallway where they passed a number of people. Some looked like any average teen and others had obvious physical Mutations. One girl had giant red eyes and a young boy flashed a set of piranha teeth. A predominant color seemed to be blue. Blue eyes, blue hair, blue skin. Doors perched open as teachers gave lessons to their students on various subjects from science to English.

Teddy moved comfortably, greeting familiar faces as she passed. Steve just followed behind her and nodded politely.

They soon reached a door that opened to another staircase the entire corridor was made of metal rather than wood.

They entered into a laboratory lit by bright white lights. Rows of screens and chemistry stations made Steve think of both Tony and Howard. A large case filled with blue and yellow uniforms stood off to the side and a giant war plane took up a big spot in the hangar visible through a window.

"Hank?" Teddy called.

A big, blue gorilla-panther of a man stepped out from behind some kind of invention. He grinned when he saw Teddy.

"Theodora!" His voice was deep, almost a growl. "How are you? It's been a while."

"Yeah, I've been busy with school and work and research," Teddy said and gave him a hug.

"I understand. Who's this?"

"Steve."

Hank squinted a moment and adjusted his thick black glasses. "Is that Captain America?"

"Yeah."

"Do you think your theory is correct?"

"Yeah, but then that means that there is a dormant X-gene that can easily be resurfaced by some sort of outside factor. I'm still trying to figure out if it has to be activated by Rays or if it can be activated by a substance or if it has to be a mixture of both. Who knows, even huge amounts of stress may activate the gene."

"Did you figure out why we're all blue?"

She shook her head and turned to Steve. "Was the serum blue?"

He shook his head. "I was color blind so I'm not sure. I think it might've been."

"It's a mystery," Teddy decided. She pinned her hair back with a green bandana and washed her hands. "Remove your jacket and sit on the table, please."

Familiar with this, Steve removed his leather jacket and sat down. He began to clench and unclench his hand in order to get the blood pumping. He also squeezed his eyes shut. He never liked watching his blood get drawn, just seeing it gush out like that… Teddy wrapped something around his bicep and then wiped the spot clean.

He waited for the pierce of the needle. And…it never came.

"All done."

He opened his eyes as she put a Hello Kitty bandage on the spot. There was the vial of his blood sitting in a small plastic tub.

"Huh."

"Didn't feel a thing, right?" Hank said with a tinge of pride. "Theodora is the best at that. For years, I had her be the one to give shots."

Steve was impressed and wished that she was his nurse when he was a child. If Mam wasn't around to give him shots, then another lady did and they seemed to take the "needle will go right through him" seriously for how hard they gripped his arm.

"Hey, Sunshine," a gruff voice said.

"Heeeey," Teddy replied. "Look who I brought."

Steve turned to greet the grouchy newcomer and stopped in his tracks. "Logan? Lucky Logan Howlett?"

"Well, I'll be damned," the scruffy man said with a smirk. "Captain America."

"I… I thought…" Steve grinned. "Last I saw you they shipped you off to Japan. I can guess now why bullets never seemed to touch you."

"Yeah, super healing abilities."

"Go catch up with your old man stories," Teddy said. "I'll be a couple hours."

Steve paused and gave Teddy a hug. "Thanks."

"No problem."

Steve headed back upstairs with Logan. "So, Mutant?"

"Yeah. I never showed you the best part." Steve didn't think his eyes could get any wider until the burly man produced three metal claws from his knuckles.

"Wow…"

"What about you? Did Teddy give you her whole spiel on Activated Mutants?"

"Not the whole thing. Just that I possibly had a dormant X-gene that was activated by Erskine's super soldier serum. That it actually was ready when Red Skull used it and that Dr. Banner might've been on point too when he made a version of the serum."

"So you understood what she said."

Steve shrugged noncommittally. "A bit. I don't understand a lot of science, but I'm not dumb. Teddy is pretty good at explaining things."

Logan nodded. "She's a big ball of sunshine. If anyone is gonna be your friend for life it's her. Several lives actually."

"She really made a big difference for me," Steve said.

"Good."

They ended up chatting for a while so that when Teddy finally came in with her results, it felt like almost no time had passed.

"You're a Mutant," she said with a grin. "I won't say that I proved my theory because you're supposed to print the theory and _then _prove it."

A Mutant. He was an Activated Mutant. Huh.

_August 10th_

"What do you want?" Teddy asked as they perused the Starbucks menu. Steve had been a bit intimidated coming into the shop. She warned him that the coffees were ridiculously overpriced but absolutely delicious.

Steve shrugged. "I don't care. Surprise me."

Teddy grinned as she watched him grab their table. He totally walked right into this. She ordered their drinks and waited by the counter for them. The cold beverages were ready and Teddy suppressed her laughter as she made her way over to the table by the window.

"An Iced Americano for the Iced Americano," she said and started cackling. Steve sent her an unamused look but accepted the iced coffee anyway.

_August 30th_

Armed with snacks and beverages. Steve joined Teddy for a television marathon of what she deemed was a cultural necessity: _Star Trek._

"Okay, so the first few episodes are going to be inconsistent because they were trying to figure everything out, but trust me it is worth it in the end.

Steve found through his time here that he enjoyed television. Don't get him wrong, he still missed the old radio shows, but there was something about the worlds created that intrigued him. Teddy had raved about _Star Trek_ and just about everyone he talked to at work had told him to put it on his list.

"How many episodes are there?" he asked.

"Well." Teddy pulled out her phone and checked on imdb. "There's eighty episodes of this series, then there are twelve movies, and then a hundred and seventy-six episodes of _The Next Generation_, and then there's _Deep Space Nine_ and a few others."

"Wow, you weren't kidding when you said this was a cultural necessity," he said with a laugh.

"Yep, this is the first TV series to have an interracial kiss on screen, but that isn't until season three," she informed him and pressed play.

Steve liked _Star Trek_. He liked it a lot.


	4. Chapter 4

**Space Address: 5E - Hike (use your beer goggles)**

**Challenges: Rian-Russo Inversion (Yes, Teddy is bisexual); Marvelous Cinema; The First Phase**

**Word Count:** 2918

**Warnings:** None

~o0o~

The past several months flew by for Steve. He was even starting to believe that things wouldn't be different. He had settled into a routine with Teddy and he was really starting to think that he would be prepared to face anything. Hell, he might even start travelling. See the world. That is, if Teddy would be willing to go with him. He'd prefer to tour the world with a good friend by his side.

However, he and Teddy decided to try a "blast to the past" as she put it. There was a forties style dance club and Steve was finally going to learn how to dance. He actually protested at first, telling Teddy that he was still waiting, but then she said something that resonated with him.

"How will you find the right partner if you don't get out there and dance?"

Teddy was a total knockout in a yellow dress that looked gorgeous with her dark skin. However, instead of the victory rolls, she left her hair in her afro. Steve wore what he used to wear on dates, though it was weird to be in something fitting for once. They took his motorcycle to the bar which wasn't that far from Times Square. Steve had to admit that there was something beautiful about the lights and the sunset reflecting off the skyscraper windows.

As it turned out, Teddy knew the bouncer at the club and they were able to get right in.

"Where do you know him from?" Steve asked.

"This place that I worked at before I was a registered nurse," said Teddy. "Got me through my Bachelor's degree with no debt."

"I would set up in Central Park," said Steve. "Sell my drawings and quick sketches. Course, college was a lot cheaper. I never finished."

"You could always take some classes at the public university," said Teddy. "Computer courses, history courses. Veterans get to take them for free."

"Really?"

"Yeah, you know, it's not too late to apply for the Spring semester," she said.

Back to school. That was a thought. He got pretty good grades, maybe taking some college courses might not be such a bad idea.

The live band picked up the beat and people hurried out onto the floor to dance how they thought people danced back then. Steve had a lot of experience watching people dance. Hell, he could almost see Bucky now, trying to dance with two gals so neither feels cheated out of a date. Buck wasn't a womanizer, he just didn't like anybody feeling left out, which is why he never let Steve be the third wheel he always thought he was destined to be.

"Ready to get out there?"

Steve blinked and… hesitated.

"Actually," he said. "I thought I was ready for this, Teddy, but I'm really not. Can—can we just go back to your place and watch movies? Maybe pick up some cheesecake?"

"Sure," said Teddy. "It's okay, I'm actually surprised you agreed to go out. I am proud of you, Steve."

"You are?"

She nodded and hooked her arm in his. "Come on, these heels suck anyway and you're dressed like my dad."

"Tell me what you really think," he teased.

"Well, of all the places to find you, I'm surprised it's here," said a familiar voice.

Steve and Teddy looked over their shoulders to see Nick Fury standing right there.

"Hi, Nick," said Teddy.

"Director Fury," said Steve.

"Glad to see you aren't holed up in some basement," he continued. "Heard you were getting out there. Trying new things."

"Yeah, might even apply to college," said Steve.

"Good, that's good," said Fury. "S.H.I.E.L.D. can make that happen, but we need a little help."

He held out a file which Teddy took before Steve could even react.

"He doesn't owe you anything, you know," she snipped. "Sometimes, going right back into combat isn't the best thing for veterans."

"At least let the man see what he'd be getting into."

"Teddy. It's okay."

Pursing her lips, she gave him the file and hovered so she could read what was on it.

"You know, the Avengers Initiative could use someone like you, Miss Williams," said Fury.

"Yeah, I don't like to be used," said Teddy. "My body is not a weapon and I prefer to heal people for my living, thank you very much. If I wanted to fight, I'd be with the X-Men."

He held up his hands in surrender. "Just thought I'd offer."

Seemed finding a peaceful moment was an upward hike on a never ending mountain.

"I'll fight," said Steve. "I didn't land the Valkyrie in the ice just so someone else could use the Cube."

"Anything we should know about it?"

"You should've left it in the ocean."

"We thank you, Captain," said Fury. "Report to S.H.I.E.L.D. in an hour. I'd say that gives you time for one last dance."

Teddy sighed and shook her head. "World can't stay peaceful for more than a decade can it?"

"Guess not. Listen, if the Cube is involved, this could get deadly. I don't want to make the same mistakes as last time. I think I should dance with _someone_."

"You asking me to dance?"

Steve nodded. "Well, the band is playing something slow and I mean this in a purely platonic, friendly way, but if I'm going to dance with someone, I'd rather dance with you."

Teddy smiled and nodded. "Alright," she said. "I could roll with platonic dancing."

The pair stepped out onto the dance floor and swayed with the other couples while the singer crooned.

"Teddy?"

"Hmm?"

"Waking up and facing this future world, well, if I had to face it, I'm glad I have you helping me along."

"Thanks, Steve," she said. "I'm glad I could help you and it's been a lot of fun hanging out with you. You know what this means though, right?"

"What does it mean?"

"I'll totally be slamming you with texts," she said. "Ida can tell you that I do that. You'll feel your pocket vibrate, buzz buzz, it's me bitch."

Steve snorted and laughed. "Okay, okay, I'll text you when I can."

"You better," she replied and hugged him tightly, adding a peck on the cheek. "You go ahead to S.H.I.E.L.D. I'll call Ida and ask if she can pick me up on her way out."

"You sure? I could always give you a ride home."

"Yeah, I don't want my door busted down just because you took a detour," she said.

He conceded her point.

"Alright," he said. "Text me when you're safe?"

"I'll snapchat the whole thing," she teased and fished her phone out of her pocket. "One selfie before you go."

Steve smiled for the picture, and before Teddy could clear the spots from her eyes, he was out the door and she was texting Ida to come pick her up.

~o0o~

**8:00pm**

**Steve: Hey Teddy. I finally got debriefed and now I'm on my way to Germany. What do you know about Norse Mythology?**

**Teddy: Well, like any respectable nerd, I had a Mythology phase throughout my formative years. Mostly Egyptian, but I listened to a podcast recently about Norse Mythology. Why?**

**Steve: We're tracking down some guy named Loki. Thinks he's a god.**

**Teddy: Yikes. If you're going to pick a god to identify with, why would you choose Loki? He's supposed to be the god of mischief. The class clown.**

**Steve: Did Agent Coulson really watch me while I was sleeping?**

**Teddy: Yeah, why?**

**Oooh.**

**Is he geeking out on you?**

**Steve: Yes.**

**Teddy: Phil is sweet. And yes, he did watch you while you were sleeping but only because I asked him to. I was awake for two days and I needed a break.**

**Steve: One other question, who's Stephen Hawking?**

Teddy sent him the Wikipedia page on Stephen Hawking and went back to the X-Men group chat. Apparently, there was a big argument on whether or not they should intervene. She couldn't sleep knowing that there was another world threat. Would the final showdown be in Germany? Who could say. She just had a feeling it would be in New York, and if it was, then she'd want to be on duty at the hospital. No doubt there could potentially be a lot of collateral.

Ida and Pepper were getting on a plane that would keep them as far away from the fight as possible, which made her feel a bit better that her best friend was out of harm's way. Ida hated the fight more than Teddy did. Poor girl pretty much grew up on a battlefield. Besides, her skills were much better suited with assisting a CEO of a company like Stark Industries.

**Steve: u up?**

Teddy stifled her laughter.

**Teddy: Yeah, I'm up. Why did I teach you chat speak again?**

**Steve: :p**

**Teddy: dweeb :)**

**I should get some sleep just in case shit goes down**

**Steve: Good idea.**

**I'll keep you updated.**

**Good night**

**Teddy: Night. Don't forget to be nice to Phil! He's worth it.**

**Steve: OK**

~o0o~

**8:00am**

**Steve: Tell me something, Teddy, was Tony Stark insufferable when you met him?**

**Teddy: Not really. Doesn't surprise me y'all are butting heads. He seems kinda bitter towards you. Mentioned his dad.**

**Steve: Howard was a great man.**

**Teddy: Children get different views of their parents than the rest of the world. Dude probably grew up having you as the standard and you, Iced Americano, are a high standard. Give him a chance, he'll see you're a little shit.**

**Steve: hardy-har**

**Teddy: How'd things go with Loki?**

**Steve: Apparently, it's the real Loki. Like from the myth. Thor is on our side and plans on taking the Cube **_**and**_** Loki with him.**

**Teddy: Dang. Who'd've thought the god of thunder would be an alien. Is he cute?**

**Steve: I'd paint him**

**Teddy: Nice. I knew aliens were real!**

"Is Captain America seriously texting at this all important moment?"

Steve glanced up from his screen and scowled at Tony Stark.

"I didn't realize my opinion was necessary on the Cube."

"I didn't even think you would know how to text," Stark continued.

**Steve: Send help.**

He received a picture of Thor the cat wearing a cape.

"Who are you texting anyway?"

"Girlfriend, maybe?" Romanoff teased.

"Just a friend," said Steve. "You met her once, Stark. Theodora Williams."

"Oh, yes!" said Stark. "Good kid. I want to talk to her."

"Why?"

"I want to make sure she'll be out of harm's way. She is Pepper's assistant's best friend after all."

Steve figured he might as well give in here before Stark read their messages out loud. That'd be embarrassing. He tapped the FaceTime button and held his phone at arm's length. Seconds later, Teddy's face appeared, she had her earbuds in and appeared to be walking through Central Park.

"Hi, Steve," she said. "Hi, Tony."

"Hey, Teddy," Stark waved. "Why are you still in New York? I thought you'd be on the way to D.C. with Ida and Pepper."

"I just got a feeling shit's gonna go down and I want to be there for it," she said and pulled back her shirt collar to reveal a blue and yellow uniform. "I got a couple X-Men on standby just to be safe. I don't fight on principal, but there's going to be a lot of people to evac. Y'all do have all major cities on standby, right? Escape routes to the underground, PD and firefighters ready to go?"

Their silence told her everything she needed to know.

"Uh, Jarvis?" Stark said into his headset. "Contact every state and county government on the Atlantic coastline. Let them know to be ready, have PD and Firefighters on standby and show them what happened in Germany as proof that this isn't a prank. Okay, now we do."

"What makes you so certain they're coming to New York?" Romanoff asked, squeezing into the frame.

"Big city," said Teddy with a shrug. "Dense. Plus it's the home of two of the main guys on your team. Egypt already dealt with this nonsense and Germany seems an unlikely candidate for the main event." She stopped walking and sat on a bench. "Can you send me a feed of Loki?"

"On it," said Stark, tapping buttons on a tablet.

Teddy stared into her screen, brow furrowed in contemplation.

"He looks sick," she said.

"He is sick," said Bruce. "He killed 80 people in two days!"

"Oh, my God, Bruce Banner!" she gasped. "I am a big fan of your work! Listen, after all this do you mind if I send you some theories I have regarding it? I think it might clear things up."

"What do you mean by sick?" Steve asked, knowing full well what connotation Teddy meant.

"Well, his eyes keep flickering to an unnatural shade of blue, but that might just be the fact he's an alien, though a humanoid one at that. He also seems to be showing signs of dehydration, lack of sleep, and heat exhaustion."

"He is a frost giant of Jotunheim," said Thor, leaning over everyone. "Loki never could stand heat, even before we knew of his origins."

"Has he always been crazy?"

"This behavior started recently, although one time he posed as Lady Sif, and I had a crush on her then, this was before I knew she preferred women, and he lured me into the forest promising a kiss, and then he turned me into a frog, and presented me to the real Sif as a present, and she threw me against a wall. I was eleven."

There wasn't time to unpack all that and Teddy seemed to agree.

She hummed. "Think he might just be the middleman? There might not be any reasoning with him, but I think this dude is being tortured and manipulated. You might be dealing with someone who thinks he has nothing to lose and everything to gain, which makes a dangerous man."

"Is there a way to make him see reason?" Thor asked hopefully. "Make him end this madness?"

"I don't know," she said. "I'd have to speak with him to know for sure, but if he's already on murder for shits and giggles, then he might be too far gone. Although, if I was date raped by a horse and gave birth to an eight-legged stallion and then the king was like 'hey, I'm gonna use your child as my steed!' I'd go a little crazy too."

"That is not true," said Thor. "Sleipnir is not Loki's son."

"But did he seduce a horse?"

Thor pursed his lips and looked at his shoes. "We do not talk about that."

She looked up at something and furrowed her brow.

"Tony, do you use satellites on your tower?"

"No, what do you think this is, 2004?"

"Didn't think so."

"Probably S.H.I.E.L.D.," Tony muttered. "Well before long I'm gonna know all their secrets."

"I'm gonna check out whatever it is up there," said Teddy. "Sometimes computers move too slow."

"Wait, Teddy," said Steve. "I just remembered something I wanted to tell you."

"Yes?"

"One time I shot a Nazi in my pajamas," he said. "Now what he was doing in my pajamas, I'll never know."

The call ended there but not before Steve saw her go through the seven stages of grief. He grinned and put his phone in his pocket.

"You and Clint are going to get along well," Natasha sighed, rubbing her forehead.

"Keep running that scanner, Stark," said Steve. "I'm going to take a look around."

"You're not the boss of me."

Steve bit back a retort thinking of what Teddy might say to him about it and left to search the Helicarrier.

"Captain, may I join you on your quest?" Thor asked.

"Uh, sure," said Steve.

"Your friend," said Thor, "do you think what she speaks is true? Loki is being coerced?"

"I don't know," Steve replied honestly. "I haven't known her to be wrong, yet. She's a nurse and a damn good one. She's also really smart."

"I would like to meet her officially," said Thor. "Before we return to Asgard."

"We?"

"Despite his crimes on Earth, I intend to take Loki back to Asgard with me," said Thor. "He will face consequences for his actions, I promise you that."

"The decision isn't really up to me," said Steve, "but I don't think the Earth will want Loki here. If there's anything I can do to help, I will."

"It is appreciated."

Steve paused and backtracked to a darkened room that he was certain he didn't have access to.

"Thor, keep watch."

Thor nodded and turned his back while Steve pried the door open with his bare hands.

After a short search, he found an exact replica of a Hydra weapon. Anger boiled his blood and he clenched his jaw so hard he thought his teeth might break. His phone buzzed in his pocket. He removed it to see a picture of something that looked between a laser gun and a drill. Smack dab in the middle of it was the tesseract. Steve grabbed the weapon, left the room, and showed Thor the picture.

"What is the significance of the weapon?" Thor asked.

"It's what I died trying to destroy," Steve huffed. "Come on, let's show the others."

**AN: And we all know what goes down. Not gonna get into that.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Loki deserved better 2k19**

**Space Address: B4 - Heat**

**Word Count: 3990**

**Warnings: Effects of torture, prejudice**

Teddy had messaged the X-Men and a small squad was sent to begin evacuations. By the time the portal opened, most people were clear on the other side of the city and a barrier was set up with emergency personnel. The only people they had to worry about were the journalists and news crews. The Waffle Houses were closed down, so people took the evacuation seriously.

When the fight began, Teddy remained nearby as a field medic as well as get anyone out that didn't hear or take the initial evacuation seriously.

Even with the control, someone still thought it was a good idea to send a nuclear weapon into the heart of New York. Tony sent it up into the portal, Natasha closed it, and Hulk caught Tony from his free fall.

Teddy rushed onto the scene and knelt down beside Tony.

"He's not breathing," she said. "Get him out of the suit, so I can perform mouth-to-mouth— JESUS CHRIST!"

Hulk beat his chest and roared. It did the trick and Tony was awake.

"I need to check your vitals, Tony," said Teddy. "You were in the cold vacuum of space, that couldn't have been good for you. Mentally and physically."

"Right, right," said Tony. "We'll get on that, but first, we got something to do."

"Mm, good thinking," said Teddy. "Y'all haven't eaten and you just burned a shit ton of calories."

"He means Loki," said Steve. "We gotta make sure he can't escape."

"Okay, but food after." Teddy pulled Tony to his feet. "I can patch y'all up while the food is being made. Uh, we should probably let people know they can start returning to the less damaged areas, but I'm worried about the structure of some of the buildings."

"I'll get people on that," said Tony.

"Oh, hire small contractors," said Teddy. "This could be a good job opportunity for blue collar people as well as restructuring to prepare for future events. Adamantium is pretty common, and while you have to bond it pretty fast, nothing will bust through that sucker. It's too bad Vibranium isn't more common."

"Did you learn that in college?" Steve asked.

"Nah, I was just really bored and Professor X has a lot of books."

"Menhit!" Jean called. "We're going to leave now. Anything outside of imminent threat is out of our jurisdiction, okay?"

"Alright," said Teddy. "Thanks for the help, but Phoenix, can you stay behind and meet us at Stark Tower? We're dealing with someone who knows how to perform mind tricks."

"Yes, I'll be there."

"What did she mean out of jurisdiction?" Steve asked.

The Avengers and Teddy piled into the elevator which was surprisingly strong enough to hold the Hulk. Teddy tried to breathe as little as possible while she explained.

"Mutants have been dealing with end of the world shit for decades," she said. "In the nineties, when the X-Men were officially recognized as a crime-fighting organization, government people, like S.H.I.E.L.D. were all over that. Laws were put into place. Restrictions. Protections. Mutants can use their powers in self-defense and against threats that threaten a group of fifteen or more people. A Mutant may not use their abilities to coerce non-Mutants into certain acts. A Mutant does not have to disclose their status to their employer, but the employer may terminate the Mutant should they decide their powers are… ugh, what's the word… counterproductive."

"So a Mutant can be fired for any reason?" Steve asked.

"Mmhm, and any Mutant who steps out of line gets sent to the Ice Box."

"You risked a lot coming out and helping us, didn't you?"

"Well, I didn't use my powers against civilians," said Teddy. "I fought as little as possible and I'm a good nurse, I have the best ratings out of anyone. They're not gonna fire me. And it's not like my studio was in harm's way, cause I couldn't afford the Superhero Damage policy for my insurance, and Thor went with Ida to D.C."

"I am right here," said Thor.

"No, Asgardian Thor, I'm talking about my cat," Teddy clarified. "So, yeah, I should be fine and nobody needed to be sent to the hospital I work at. We did good team, no fatalities! Well, there may have been heart attacks, but those would be isolated incidences and not counted as a whole under collateral damages. Am I talking too much?"

"No," said Tony. "The med stuff is on the second level, help yourself while we handle Loki."

Teddy didn't see the confrontation with Loki while she grabbed medical supplies, but when she went downstairs he was bound and sitting in a corner. Jean was standing nearby looking antsy.

"Something isn't right with him," she said. "He's very strong mentally, I can't help unless he says what's wrong."

Teddy waved at her to stand by and sat down a safe distance away. She took several psychology courses in college and wondered how alien psyche differed.

"So, you tried to take over the world," she said. "You're not the first person who tried to do that, you know."

"I would have been a grand ruler," said Loki. "Much more competent than your humans."

"What would you have done differently?" Teddy asked. "Would you have advocated for use of clean resources? Dismantled the corporations that are poisoning this Earth out of greed? Made it illegal to hoard homes while people are forced to sleep in the streets? Decriminalized drugs? What about breaking down class and race barriers?"

Loki stared at her wide-eyed and she scoffed.

"No, of course not," she said. "You're just another white boy who thinks he has all the answers after taking one sociology course."

"You are just an insignificant human on an insignificant planet," Loki sneered. "Your life span is a mere blink of an eye compared to the grand scheme of things. The things you say and do will not matter in a—"

Teddy held up a hand to stop him. "Listen, if I wanted some twink to insult me, I'd go to my closest drag bar and ask for Tinkerbell."

"Tinkerbell?"

Teddy looked into Loki's eyes. There it was again. That shudder between blue and green.

"You're being monitored," she gasped. "Loki, Phoenix can break that link."

"It will not matter," he said. "They have eyes and ears everywhere even when mine are gone. No place will be safe."

"So you want to be a video camera for the rest of your life?"

He shook his head ever so slightly. Jean stepped forward and placed her hands on his temples. Her eyes rolled back as she cautiously broke the links as if they were booby traps. When she was done, she released Loki and stepped away. Theodora gasped at the sight. The connection with the telepath had cancelled out his illusion charms.

Whatever of Loki's skin wasn't ashen was covered in angry red marks like burns. His eyes were sunken into his skull and he had injuries that appeared to have been sustained for longer than just that day. His cool, calculating stare had collapsed into one that clearly stated how dead he felt inside. Teddy's heart reached out to him and she knew that whatever crimes he committed, he was still deserving of help.

"Loki, who did this to you?" Thor asked.

"Now you care what befalls me?" Loki snarled, revealing his blood-stained teeth.

"Miss Theodora," said Thor, "what is your assessment of Loki? Is he too far gone?"

She shook her head. "No, I would like a chance to heal his wounds before you take him home. Maybe talk to him some more. I'm no therapist, but I did take classes on psychology and I read the DSM-5."

"Are you kidding?" Steve asked. "He's a madman."

"Look at him," she argued, "all of you have done bad things, don't pretend you didn't. I think Loki is deserving of help. Tell me, Asgard Thor, did anything big happen? Has he always deemed himself superior to a specific race of people?"

"Well, when we were growing up, we learned that Frost Giants were savages and inferior beings," Thor mumbled. "I myself am guilty of slaughtering many of them. And Loki… he is of Frost Giant descent. Son of their king Laufey. Odin found him as a baby and brought him to Asgard. We did not learn of his heritage until recently."

Teddy typed this up on her phone. "Okay. So, a child stolen as a prize of war and raised completely out of his element so that he could not be as tall or strong as his potential."

"Well, he always favored magic."

"Was that seen as effeminate?"

"Yes."

"So, he grows up learning that Frost Giants are inferior and deserve to be massacred and live in harsh conditions," said Teddy. "Then he finds out he was one all along and goes nuts?"

"Well, Odin went into his sleep at the time. He awoke in time to rescue us from a wormhole after we battled. Words were said and Loki let go to fall in the wormhole where I imagine he met the Chitauri."

"And then he was captured, beaten, tortured, and pushed to the point where he has nothing to lose? Fed a lie that he was meant to be a king and he clings onto the first thing that gives him that chance? The way I see it, if this were handled properly, the two of you could have been co-rulers. Monarchy is right out, man. Councils are in, they still make stupid decisions, but it's on multiple people rather than just one."

"I… I had not thought of that," said Thor.

"His crimes here can't be ignored," said Teddy, "but the reasons behind them can't be ignored either."

"Do you still need me here?" Jean asked.

"No, you can go. I gotta patch these guys up."

Teddy helped the more pressing injuries on the Avengers, including checking Tony's heart over for damage from rapid pressure change before returning to Loki.

"I can't free you, because I know you'll run away," she said.

"I would be concerned if you trusted me enough to free me," he replied. "May I pick your brain a moment?"

"Only if I can pick yours back," she said, checking his vitals and guesstimating what was normal.

"I have killed dozens of humans and sent several after you when you appeared to be getting too close," said Loki. "Why are you being kind to me now?"

She shrugged. "I don't have your whole story. I know a girl who could kill people with a single touch. She didn't want to, she had no control over it. Everybody has a story and those who have power have their demons."

"Even you? Have you killed?"

"Well… no," she said. "I've never killed anyone, but when my powers were new some people got hurt. I've said things that were terrible and maybe even unforgivable. Your brother admitted to massacres, why should I give him the benefit of the doubt? Because he's buff and handsome? Or due to how he acts now and not in the past? Everybody has to change sometime, Loki. You don't have to be the same person you were five minutes ago. I certainly won't be the same person in a thousand years."

"You are immortal?"

"Are you?"

He shook his head.

"Neither am I," she said. "Just long-lived. My daddy is over two hundred years old. My sister didn't get the same abilities, so when she's old and gray, I'll still look like this. I just look at my dad, my friend Logan, Mystique, and Steve… and I take comfort that I won't be alone when the time comes."

"I see." Loki nodded. "I have no choice but to return to Asgard. I would like to see you and talk to you again. The tesseract should fix the bridge. Odin won't allow it, but Frigga might."

"She's your mom?"

"Not by birth."

"Hey, if a woman feeds you, clothes you, and loves you like a child, she's your momma." Teddy patted Loki on the leg. "I'll see about seeing you again. I'm not a professional therapist, but I'll do my best. Maybe I can take a few more courses."

He seemed surprised at the gesture.

"Thank you, Theodora."

Teddy stood and approached Thor.

"So, it looks like he'll willingly go to trial as long as I get to come visit Asgard and talk to him through his issues."

Thor raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Teddy nodded. "I think I got through to him."

"Got through to him?" Natasha asked incredulously. "He called me a mewling quim. Whatever that means."

"He called you a pussy," Teddy said and furrowed her brow. "I'll talk to him about that."

"I believe it," said Tony. "The opening up thing, not the pussy thing. Ida always said you had a sweet and forgiving nature, Teddy."

"Kindness is a skill," she said. "I should probably get home. Make sure some freaks didn't break into my apartment during the evac. People do that you know. I can understand stealing food, but stealing others shit? It's a dick move. Luckily, all my work is backed up and secured in a safe place."

"I'll walk with you," Steve offered.

"Alright."

"Take one of my cars," said Tony. "You live North of 96th street and the trains are going to be packed getting people back in. I should probably get started on the clean-up and temporary shelter." He dug his phone out of his pocket and called Pepper. While he was on the phone, he crossed over to the key holder and plucked a set down. "Actually, a motorcycle would get through the damage better."

"Steve can drive," said Teddy, accepting the keys. "Thanks, Tony."

SHIELD finally arrived to take the scepter and argue about who got custody of Loki.

"You doing okay?" Teddy asked Steve.

"A bit of pain, but I'm fine," he said. "No different than facing a gang of thugs."

Teddy smiled lightly. "You need to make sure you get plenty of food and water in you. Super healing is going to cost a lot of energy. You'll probably sleep a lot too. You can use my bed and I'll camp out on the couch."

"Oh, I can't ask you to do that," he said.

"You didn't ask," she reasoned. "I offered."

They took the stairs with Hulk since he was banned from the elevator the second time around.

"Remind me why we didn't take the elevator?" Steve panted.

"Because Hulk would be alone," said Teddy. "Hey, big guy, any idea when puny Banner will come back? I wanted to talk to him about my PhD thesis."

"Who say Hulk don't have advice?" Hulk asked.

"Okay," said Teddy, taking her phone out for notes, "is it possible that the gamma radiation and serum that created you caused the activation of the X-gene in Dr. Banner, which would prove that a combination of serum, radiation, and high stressors can create a Mutant so long as they have the recessive gene?"

Hulk opened his mouth, then closed it.

He grunted, "Question for Banner."

Teddy laughed and patted his arm. "Don't worry, big guy. Maybe we can spar sometime."

"Hulk would smash you."

"Are you sure?"

"Hulk good at smashing."

"I'm good at dodging."

Hulk made to push her. Teddy dodged and jumped over the railing. The gravity shifted and she floated gently down while the boys were stuck walking.

"I grew up around big Mutants, Hulk," said Teddy. "Beast, Colossus, Juggernaut—to name a few."

"Hulk smash them all!" he insisted. "At same time!"

Teddy poked the Hulk on the cheek. "I'm sure you could."

Hulk brushed her hand away, but Teddy caught the smile on his face.

"Call Me Maybe" blasted on her phone. Teddy sat on the railing and answered her phone.

"This is Theodora Williams, who may I ask is calling please?" she asked.

"Miss Williams, this is Vin Franks."

"Oh, yes, I remember you," said Teddy, worst-case scenarios running through her mind. "You were present when I was hired. Is something wrong at the hospital?"

"No, thanks to the X-Men and Avengers, our Emergency Rooms are no more filled than usual. No, this is about your Mutant status. You have been reported using your powers and, as you know, that can result in immediate termination."

"W-what? That only applies if I use my powers against a person." She held out her hand for Steve's phone. He gave it to her and she quickly looked up the news.

"Security cameras do show you using it against multiple persons."

She watched a video of herself knocking out a few of the people who found her floating up to the top of Stark Tower.

"Sir, that was for self-defense. They weren't hurt but they were under mind control," she argued. "Please, don't I get a warning? I love my job!"

"Well, we could bring this to HR, but then that could fall into a lawsuit. You don't want to be taken to the Ice Box for misuse of your powers. Mind control is very difficult to prove, you know."

Teddy bit her tongue.

"You may turn in your badge and clear out your locker," Vin continued. "After that, you will remain clear of the premises."

"Alright," Teddy whispered. "Anything else?"

"That is all."

Teddy hung up, calmly got down from the railing, and punched the wall.

"DAMMIT!" she yelled. "This is exactly why I don't mess with super stuff! I just _had_ to get involved and I lost my job over it! I knew this would happen! I bet it was that bitch from the third floor, she_ never_ liked me." She made her voice high. "'Oh, I_ love_ how you just wear anything.' That shady bitch!"

"Why would you lose your job?" Steve demanded. "You're the best damn nurse they've got!"

"I guess some higher ups are just racist and misogynist." Teddy plunked down on the step and buried her face in her hands. "They'll look for any excuse. All these laws and Mutants still can't be full members of society. And that video is up… How was it even posted? Who took it?"

"Maybe Stark can take it down," Steve suggested.

"They already saw it. If I try to reapply to a different hospital they'll just… shit, what am I going to do? I barely make enough as it is. I have student loans! I can't go back to Burlesque, I just can't!"

She face planted her knees and cried.

"Hulk will just go now," said Hulk awkwardly.

Steve sat down on the steps next to Teddy and tapped his comm that was still in his ear. "Any chance you have a driver, Stark? Uh, well…"

"Just tell him I lost my job," Teddy moaned as she texted Ida. "My life here is over. I'll never work in this city again."

"Wow…" Hulk had shrunk back down to Bruce. "Have you ever been fired before?"

"Once." Teddy sniffled. "From McDonald's when I was fifteen. I was still growing into my powers and broke the ice cream machine. After that? Never. I dedicated four years of my life to that hospital!"

"Teddy, why don't we just go to my place?" Steve suggested. "It's closer." He frowned. "Shut up!"

"Excuse me?"

"Not you!" he said quickly. "Comm must be stuck on."

Teddy looked up at him. "Any chance someone is hiring on a full-time nurse? I'd be good at it. I'm also not above nutrition and meal-planning. I'll require enough pay for online classes, but my fee wouldn't be too high. Bruce! I don't have seven PhDs but you could use assistance, right? I know biochemistry. I don't mind being an assistant if I have time to research my things once a week."

"I, uh, I'll let you know if a space opens up," he said.

Steve extended his hand and Teddy let him pull her to her feet. It was difficult to not let the gravity weigh her down, so she shifted all her focus on trying to keep herself light, especially when they went to the elevator. She didn't want to cause an accident. Even so, she noticed Steve was puffing by the time they made it to the ground floor.

There they saw Thor and Tony arguing with a team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents over who got Loki. It seemed they reached the tail-end because Thor was agreeing that they could interrogate Loki, but that the matters of his imprisonment was to be held on Asgard.

An old blond man who looked exactly like the type to work for a government agency broke off from the group to speak to Steve.

"Captain Rogers," he said, "I was wondering if I may have a word. I'm Alexander Pierce, Undersecretary of S.H.I.E.L.D."

Loki's appearance shifted. "I'm Alexander Pierce of S.H.I.E.L.D., I just wanted to thank you for representing America's finest piece of ass!"

Teddy gasped and shrieked with laughter, though no one else seemed to find the joke amusing. She swiped the tears from her eyes and Loki turned back to himself.

"No shenanigans, Loki," said Thor, putting a muzzle over his brother's mouth.

"Hey, that's bullshit," said Teddy. "He's funny!"

"Unless you're on the receiving end," the alien muttered.

"It isn't like he's Hannibal Lecter," Teddy grumbled and tried to pry the muzzle off.

"As I was saying," said Pierce, "I think you could have a promising future at S.H.I.E.L.D., Captain."

"Thank you, sir," said Steve. "I don't think I'm quite there yet, though. I would like to take some college courses, maybe get a bit more world and life experience."

"Well, if you change your mind, you know where to find us," he said and left with Thor and Loki.

"We will meet again tomorrow for our farewell," Thor promised. "Lady Theodora, I will call for you if Odin agrees to accept your help."

"Thank you, Thor."

"Garage entrance is just through that door." Tony pointed at a set of grey double doors. "See you around, Teddy, Cap."

"See ya, Tony," said Steve.

They found where the motorcycle was parked, Steve got on first; Teddy mounted behind him, wrapped her arms around his middle, and rested her chin on his shoulder.

The city itself was a mess with broken buildings, damaged cars, and a mass of people trying to get home, though some areas were still restricted to the public. Many were displaced, but television and radio stations were directing people to temporary housing in undamaged areas.

They stopped by Steve's place so he could shower and change before continuing on to Teddy's apartment.

Luckily, no one broke into her apartment. She wasn't sure she could handle it if they had. She collapsed onto her couch and wished her cat were still there to comfort her. Steve was a good second.

When he sat down, she rested her head on his shoulder and sighed.

"Did you mean what you said?" she asked.

"About moving in with me?" he said. "I have a spare room. Besides, we hang out so often, I have my own toothbrush here."

Teddy hummed. "True… but I couldn't impose."

"It's not an imposition if I offer."

He turned her words against her. She raspberried and he laughed.

"Alright," she conceded. "Besides, roommates are becoming more popular with rent going up and you got a nice place. Nicer than mine anyway."

"Hey, you shoulda seen the place I had back then. It was a fire hazard and the cockroaches were bigger than me."

"It wasn't exactly hard to be bigger than you," Teddy teased.

Steve nudged her and grinned. "It'll be okay."

"I know," she said. "I've got some good friends to lean on."


End file.
